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Thursday, June 15, 2006

There is a fairly new Theater in downtown Mackinaw (you know you are getting old when fairly new actually means sometime in the last 10 years) where they feature different Stage Shows for the summer months. Heroes of Rock and Roll was on the venue when Becky and I were there and we decided that we definitely needed to take in a performance to round out our time in Mackinaw.

Being organized and a tad-bit "plan-conscious", we stopped by the theater in the afternoon to inquire about the times of the performances and the ticket cost and it was here that we were first introduced to Mildred. We really don't have any idea of her given name and I can't remember the one that Becky and I made up for her, so Mildred will have to do. She was an extremely pleasant woman, probably in her 60's, that acted like she was thrilled to see us. She told us that the show was at 7:00 p.m. and that we would love it because the guys were just "gorgeous!" We thought that she was cute and went on our merry way with a little spring in our steps.

On our way to the theater, we had a little talk about seating arrangements. Although I haven't been to many shows, I do know that there is always a chance of audience participation and the thought of it puts such a fear in me that I seriously consider skipping the show altogether. In fact, the only other show I have seen in this theater was a few years ago with my whole family and we were seated in the front row. My dad was actually selected to go on stage and it was hilarious and he did a wonderful job, but if that had been me, I wouldn't' t be alive today. So, I requested no front row seats and Becky agreed.

We walked up to the ticket counter and guess who was working? Mildred recognized us right away and seemed genuinely excited to see us. The weather had taken a turn for the worse and it had started to rain and there was a nasty wind kicking up. The ticket counter was one of those glass enclosed booths outside the theater where you have to talk through that little hole and it was extremely hard to communicate. Somehow Becky managed to get our order in and Mildred whipped out our tickets from the ol' printer and looked aghast. She said something like "I didn't want you there" and dramatically ripped the tickets into little shreds before our eyes. She started furiously pounding on the computer keyboard once again while we stood in fear and confusion. Another set of tickets were printed and she was again her smiling jovial self. She grabbed a seating chart, had us gather round and showed us that she had placed us in Second Row center. She said that those gorgeous guys like those young girls up front to look at. Now, that is rather flattering, but you can guess I was not feeling so comfortable about the whole thing.

We found our Second Row seats and were giggling like two school girls waiting for the lights to dim and suddenly we saw Mildred running down the aisles looking for someone. We assumed that she was hot on the trail of a ticket-stealer, when suddenly she saw us, got that big smile on her face again and ran right over. Now I was trembling. She came all that way to let us know personally that 2 people with front row seats had canceled and so we could move up as soon as the lights went down. She looked like she had handed us gold and I was seeing my life flash before my eyes. She again mentioned how much the guys would like us up front screaming and getting into it. I didn't have the heart to mention that I couldn't scream if my life depended on it. She left having done her good deed for the day and Becky and I were in shock.

In a an interesting twist of events, some other people procured the front row seats before we did (we were dragging our feet on the whole thing), which was fine with us. The show itself was entertaining and fun and there was a bit of audience participation, but again it was a guy that they took on stage. Elvis, however, came down and sang a sultry number to a woman in the front row and I was thanking God a zillion times over that I was snug in the second row.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that our theatrical experience was topped off with some behavior problems (no, it wasn't my sister!). The actors encouraged the audience to get into things however they wanted, such as clapping, dancing in the aisles, etc. I imagine that they don't usually have many that take them up on that, but this audience happened to be about 85% children and teenagers on class trips with far too few chaperones and they didn't think twice before rushing the open area at the foot of the stage. It did hinder the view of the first couple of rows, but we would've been okay (they were having a great time), except for the fact that we had a couple of people (adults, mind you) in our row that found the need to express their ire in a very un-attractive way. There was yelling, and nasty comments, and getting theater attendants in a very juvenile way. They ended up bothering us much more than the children. However, no one could ever get a handle on the situation, so it continued throughout the show.

All in all, however, we had a good time, loved Mildred, and giggled a lot!